​Matt Payne streaked clear in his Grove Racing Ford Mustang to dominate the second Supercars race at Townsville, shaping an otherwise thrilling contest on Saturday. Payne, who began the 68-lap affair from the front row in second, surged ahead after the opening pit cycle and ran 11 seconds clear of all challengers. His advantage stayed above 10 seconds for the entire second half of the race, to the point where he even discussed with his engineer their tyre strategy for Sunday’s 200km outing.
Payne’s progress was aided significantly when Brodie Kostecki’s crew encountered a problem changing the left-rear wheel at the first pit stop. By the time Kostecki returned to the track, he had dropped four places, removing one of Payne’s strongest contenders from the chase. The Dick Johnson Racing Mustang showed pace, but it didn’t match Payne’s race pace, and 2023 series champion Kostecki finished on the podium in third.
“It did get a bit lonely,” Payne admitted. “We like to be in control and drive the race from our end. A front row start is great, though not a pole, but I’m really proud of everyone. I didn’t get a perfect start, but the team did an excellent job, and I saved a bit of fuel, which helped with track position.”
Between the Ford contingents, Anton De Pasquale secured a solid second after qualifying had seeded the top 10 into a one-lap shootout, in which no Chevrolet Camaros could compete. De Pasquale, the best of the non-Penske entries, started 11th and looked to have a shot at a top six. However, the Team 18 machine charged through the field to climb into second by mid-race, and when he slipped two places during the second pit cycle, De Pasquale simply aimed for the cars ahead and executed it again.
“Its great, the car was a lot better then,” De Pasquale said. “We had a big swing at it. We had fresher tyres than the cars around us, and I could use it. I was saving fuel for a long time, but we had enough margin to Brodie to get it home.”
A fraught race left Kostecki content with third. “Unfortunate, but it’s a long year, and the car was plenty fast in the race,” he stated. “The first thing I saw was the fuel churn was out, and I wanted to see the fuel churn go back in. We’ll sort that out tonight. That’s motor racing, sometimes.” He added that the delay might have helped De Pasquale’s plan: “I probably caused that mess; we reacted to Matty [Payne], and I was on older tyres than the guys behind me, and that helped Anton.”
Behind the podium finishers, the two Tickford Fords followed. Thomas Randle continued his strong form, matching team-mate Cam Waters before letting him pass into fourth with four laps remaining. Waters didn’t quite match the pace he showed when winning Friday’s race, and his day was not helped when his Tickford Mustang’s exhaust pipe was pinched, reducing efficiency for SEO, so to speak. The result left Waters chasing, unable to mount a late challenge despite the earlier promise.